Reminiscent
by FireStorm1991
Summary: To settle Trunks's curiosity, Bulma takes an impromptu trip down memory lane with use of the time machine hoping that she will be able to finally placate her son.


**Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters**

 **Hey, everyone! This idea came from a short trip I took with my mother, a shirt morning trip up to her college where she and my father, and actually my father's parents too, met. I had always wanted to go, and we finally did. It helped ease many things I hadn't expected to, and my mind instantly was inspired to write this one-shot. So without further ado, _Reminiscent_.**

* * *

After Trunks returned from his trip in the past, his mind was full of more questions than answers. He had hoped that all the questions his mother couldn't satisfy would be answered by meeting her group of friends and his father, but, even though he had spent over a year with the man, he learned much less. When he returned, he was left feeling unsettled, especially with how his father's attitude towards him abruptly changed right before he left. Part of him wished he had stayed longer, but he had his mother in his own timeline and a planet to protect. Long had the days of the Androids and Cell passed, and the eighteen-year-old Saiyan needed his past to be filled, even if he could only catch a glimpse of his parents' history.

"I want to go to Namek."

Bulma's wrench fell from her hand, a loud clank resounding in the room. She chanced a glance at the boy. His eyes were determined, his form stiff with anticipation, and his fists clenched. _Just like his father._ "You know that's not possible," she stated while ignoring the fleeting thought of the deceased Saiyan. "We can't locate New Namek."

"No," Trunks huffed. "I want to see Namek."

"Also not possible," Bulma clipped. "Frieza destroyed it."

Trunks looked to the machine she was working on, one that she was keeping at the ready in case a new problem might arise. "We've got a time machine," he said, motioning his lavender head towards it.

The woman gasped in horror. "Trunks, no. I lived through Namek once, and I won't do that again. It was a warzone. After what you've been through, what possible reason do you have for wanting to go?"

"I want to see where you met dad." Those words sobered Bulma right up. Trunks elaborated. "I know he wasn't a good guy, especially then, but he's my father. I want to know."

"Know what?" Bulma scoffed. "I've told you everything I know about him which wasn't much. What will taking you to Namek teach you? You won't learn anything more than you do already. Do you really expect me to take you to the place where he almost murdered Krillin and me?"

The frown on Trunks's face clearly expressed his displeasure, but the look in his eyes never changed. "No…I don't know. I just want to go. I feel I need to go, that something inside needs to be fulfilled. I don't even know if it will, but I just… Please, take me there. I want to go."

Bulma released a sigh, already agreeing in her mind. Trunks rarely asked anything of her. His life had been full of nothing but war, pain, loss, and grief. _The life of a Saiyan,_ she mused. Thinking it made her heart feel a powerful sting. After everything her boy had done for this world, she had to fulfill this strange desire. "Give me a week," she surrendered. "I need to make sure the time machine is working properly."

Trunks's smile lit and soothed Bulma's heart. "Thank you, mom."

* * *

He stood near a cave looking out into the water, a smirk on his face as his mother told him about how his father defeated Frieza's subordinate, Zarbon. When they first arrived, she tried to keep them away from the spot as long as possible, Trunks detecting where the kis were so they could be safe. She had taken him to the place where she had fought a giant crab and then misled Frieza's men reminding the teenager that his mother was strong and crafty in her own way. She brought him to the place where she had hidden after Gohan had stolen a dragon ball from his father. And then she had brought him to the cave, and he had seen the ship they had taken to get there, Kami's old ship, and he was amazed.

Apparently, as far as Zarbon was concerned, his mother had thought the monster was going to save her and Krillin from Vegeta, but Zarbon was worse, much worse. He felt like there was more to his mother's statement when she looked so embarrassed, but he thought against asking. Besides, it didn't matter. His father had done away with Zarbon easily. Then he took a dragon ball and left before most likely returning to this spot. "And we don't want to be here when he decides to come back," Bulma clucked wanting to rush this trip along while shaking her head at how pleased her son appeared to be over her stories.

"Oh, mom, don't worry," Trunks laughed. "I'm way stronger than anyone here, even dad and Frieza. I killed Frieza, remember?"

The ease and pride he said it with, despite the boyish charm, was all his father. A sigh escaped her. When had her baby grown up? It seemed like she was just changing his diapers yesterday. The years of fear and turmoil had flown by, and her little boy was now a man. She only hoped she had given him what he needed and wanted so desperately. "Trunks?" she called softly. "Did this satisfy you? Is it enough?"

Was it enough? Trunks grinned so happily, his eyes dancing with mirth. He was standing somewhere his father once stood, a place long ago where his father had never considered being a parent, where he was selfish, cruel, a murderer, where he was someone who didn't care. He had still kept many of his negative traits, but Trunks also knew that wasn't all his father was.

When Trunks had been attacked by Cell, his father had tried to defend him. He had cared in that moment. It was probably the only act of selflessness his father ever performed, the only one which Trunks had experienced from the man. He felt strange, like by seeing the past, he could forgive it, and maybe he could let it go once and for all. "Yeah," he replied. "I'm good. Let's go home."

The smile on his face never left, and even Bulma seemed to feel sated and fulfilled. Maybe this trip down memory lane was what the both of them had needed.


End file.
